Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, October 24, 2002

While everyone else out on the football field is running around and trying to take someone's head off, the Washington State cornerback is chatting up wide receivers and waving at quarterbacks. Every Saturday, making new friends.

By the way, did any of you notice your wallet was missing?

David, a junior from Covina, Calif., leads the Pac-10 in interceptions with five, ranks fifth nationally. He's usually got his hand in an unsuspecting pocket.

"My goal is to get one in each league game," he said of his pass-thievery aspirations.

So far, so good. He had two in his last outing at Stanford, one in the end zone against USC the week before and another against California in the Cougars' conference opener, with air-minded Arizona next up tomorrow night in Tucson.

David stole three passes last year, two against Purdue in the Sun Bowl. Against the Boilermakers, he returned the first one 45 yards for a touchdown two minutes into the game, making a perfect break on the ball.

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He doesn't look like much, just 5 feet 9 and 173 pounds, the smallest Cougars starter. But people -- and passes -- seem to gravitate to him.

Against Stanford, David made eye contact with opposing quarterback Kyle Matter as signals were called. David gestured for the backup player to throw his way. Accepting the brazen challenge, Matter did just that, and his pass was promptly intercepted.

"He's almost like The Babe at the cornerback position, pointing, calling the play," WSU defensive tackle Rien Long said.

When David isn't flagging down passers, he's in deep conversation with receivers. He might as well be on a radio request line.

"He can talk with the best of them," Long adds. "That's like another half of his game. I think he's as good at talking to other teams as he is at playing football. He comes up with some creative stuff."

David backpedals a little on this subject. There's no intentional pass interference intended here.

Yeah, right.

"I'm just out there having a good time," the loquacious defender says. "I'm not talking to talk trash; I'm talking to have fun, to get fired up."

Said Price, "He's a very confident young man."

When he first joined the Cougars, David was more confused than anything else. He was a big-name running back out of Charter Oaks High School on the south side of Los Angeles -- he scored 27 touchdowns as a senior -- who wanted to play defensive back at the college level.

He shied away from recruiting pitches from Wisconsin, Oregon, USC, San Diego State and Texas A&M, mostly because these schools saw him as an offensive player.

Where did Price put him when he showed up in Pullman? At one of the positions he now terrorizes.

"The coaches didn't think I was good enough at cornerback, so they moved me to offense," David said. "I came into freshman camp and thought I was doing OK, but they said, 'We're going to try you at receiver.' Lasted two days. Guess they thought I couldn't play there, either, so they put me back.

"I just wanted to get on the field. I went along with it."

As a freshman, David played in nine games, mostly on special teams. Last year, he became a full-time starter at cornerback opposite Marcus Trufant, the Cougars' defensive leader. This season, they've unnerved nearly every opposing passing attack they've faced.

Trufant's presence is not lost on his teammate. David now knows what it's like to be Rafael Palmeiro batting in front of Alex Rodriguez -- he's getting a lot of pitches to hit.

"A lot of teams start to respect him, so I'm getting twice as many passes thrown to my side," David concedes

Why not? Trufant, a senior from Tacoma and four-year Cougars starter, has at least 3 inches and a few tenths of a second of speed on David, and might be the team's top NFL prospect.

Still, his partner has been asked to hold up his end and make plays, and he has complied.

"They might be throwing away from Trufant, but they're throwing right into a guy who has great anticipation," Price said. "He's making the most of the opportunity and situation he has."

Said Cougars quarterback Jason Gesser, "I'm used to him and Trufant. You've got to put a lot more on the ball against them, put it a lot higher against them and make a perfect throw."

Over the past 12 months, the only time David hasn't got his hands on the ball was during spring practice. Price sat him out because of shaky grades. He wasn't ineligible, but he was close.

David couldn't even watch. Instead, he had to sit in a classroom during the daily drills, sometimes with other delinquent teammates, sometimes alone. He has his academics in order now.

In fact, things are going so well for David these days, he has requested more playing time. He's asked to rekindle the receiver experiment.

"I'm trying to play offense, too," he confided. "I'm trying to play slot. I want to be on the field as much as I can. I talk to the coaches about it every day."

David apparently needs everything at his fingertips, if not everyone within earshot. He's known for making conversation and big plays. There aren't many friendlier guys in the Pac-10.